Dragon's Treasure
by Alacron
Summary: Ninja Gaiden crossover. When Ryu Hayabusa adopts Naruto, their lives, and the lives of those around them are changed forever.
1. Prolouge

Dragon's Treasure

Prologue

"Speech"

Thoughts 

Disclaimer: Naruto and all associated characters belong to Kishimoto, and Ryu belongs to Tecmo.

Sandaime quietly opened the door and entered the office, careful not to disturb the sleep of the overworked secretary or the small bundle in his arms. He was exhausted, as was pretty much everyone else in the village. After three days of constant attacks by the Kyuubi, it was miraculous that the Leaf was still standing, even if they'd had to sacrifice their leader in order to achieve this peace.

He was so tired, he would probably have never noticed the other presence in the room if it hadn't spoke.

"Sarutobi-sama."

He looked into a dark corner of the rather large office. Standing there was a familiar ninja, dressed all in black, carrying a rather large but crude wooden box under his right arm. "Ryu," He smiled weakly, "what brings you here?"

"The Hayabusa village was attacked." Sandaime frowned. The Hayabusa clan had some of the strongest warriors in the ninja world, and they were also proud, so it struck him as odd that they would send their prodigy to the leaf in a time of need. Perhaps since Ryu was here, it meant that they had repelled the attack, and simply needed aid in the reconstruction of their village. It was something the entire leaf could relate to at the moment.

"Are you here to ask for aid in the reconstruction?" He queried, "Do you need materials?"

"No." Ryu's tone was unflinching, "But I do need help. The village was wiped out."

"What!" Sandaime began to lose his cool. "How! Who attacked you!?"

"It was Vigoor. They sent an army to steal the Dark Dragon Blade."

Sarutobi was genuinely shocked, he almost dropped the sleeping child in his arms. _Why would they attack now? What is it about that blade that would provoke them to such violence?_

He quickly regained his composure, "Ryu, I need to know everything that has happened so far." His voice no longer held any friendliness, and instead became terse and authoritative.

Ryu bowed slightly and and began to speak. "It began when my father left in pursuit of power, he entrusted the protection of the Dragon Sword to me, and the Dark Dragon remained faithfully protected by the village. Soon after, my uncle Murai invited me up to his compound to train for a short while, but Vigoor, knowingly or not, took advantage of my absence and attacked the village. The force they attacked with consisted of a large battalion of lesser fiends, and one of their three greater fiends, Doku.

"Doku stole the Dark Dragon, and several wounds on me before escaping. Murai's student Ayame found me and brought me back to the compound. I was nursed back to health and brought up to speed on who my enemy was and how to find them. It seems that Vigoor has more advanced technology, as well as a connection to the fiends. While infiltrating the capital city, I learned that there were three greater fiends of Vigoor, and that one of them was once human.

"During the infiltration I defeated each of the greater fiends, recovered the Dark Dragon Blade, and killed the mastermind behind the entire incident." Ryu finished curtly.

Although quite surprised at the story, Sarutobi did a very good job of keeping to his duties. "Do believe there is any imminent threat to this, or any other village?"

"No, Vigoor won't attack this, or any other village for a long time, if ever."

Sandaime sighed in relief, although the story seemed a little far-fetched, it was much easier to believe since the village also had an encounter with a greater fiend less than one day ago.

Ryu broke the Hokage out of his thoughts, "Something has happened to Arashi."

It wasn't a question, though considering the circumstances, it was easy to draw such a conclusion. After all, he was wearing the Hokage robes again and much of the village was decimated. "Yes, he died just a few hours ago."

For the first time in their conversation, Ryu's face showed some emotion. It was only a slightly somber look in his eyes, but for one such as him it spoke worlds. "How did it happen?"

"Kyuubi attacked the village. Kazama developed a new technique to seal it, but it cost him his life, but it also needed a vessel…" He looked down to the child in his hands, the spiral seal visible on stomach.

Ryu nodded in understanding, "It's his child isn't it." Sandaime nodded, "I see…"

The Hokage coughed. "Ryu, about why you're here…"

"Yes, I'm here to request citizenship in the leaf. I also wish to put the Dark Dragon Blade under this village's protection."

The Hokage smiled once again, "Kazama would have been happy to see you here. A meeting of clan elders is starting soon, so we can make it official there."

AN: If you haven't figured it out already, this is crossover between Ninja Gaiden and Naruto, although I took a few liberties with the ending of Ninja Gaiden. I'll have reasons for the changes later, as the Dark Dragon Blade and Dragon Eye (the jewel that creates the True Dragon Sword) will be relevant to the overall story.


	2. New Life

Dragon's Treasure

Chapter 1: New Life

"Speech"

Thoughts 

Disclaimer: Naruto and all associated characters belong to Kishimoto, and Hayabusa Ryu belongs to Tecmo.

Ryu and the Hokage walked down the halls, and outside of the double doors to the meeting room was a ninja in a Jounin uniform, with silver hair and facemask. He was leaning lazily on the doors, his eyelids were heavy and the dark rings underneath them indicated a distinct lack of sleep. The Hokage smiled at the young prodigy.

"Kakashi, I'm glad you came." Kakashi only nodded back, "I need you to watch this child while I'm in the meeting."

"Yes, Hokage-Sama." Kakashi took the sleeping child from the Hokage's arms and walked off.

Ryu watched the boy's retreating form. "That was Arashi's star pupil right?"

"Yes, he's only fourteen and already applying to be in an anbu squad."

"Hn… How's Arashi's death been affecting him?"

Sandaime shook his head, "Too soon to tell, but he's good at keeping his emotions in check. It must be hard for him though, he lost his sensei and his teammates in the attack."

The Hokage walked through the doors, as Ryu contemplated upon something, before walking in after the robed man.

They were the first to arrive in the meeting room. It was well lit with several lights around the room, but no windows, and a long mahogany table with several chairs on each side. The Hokage took the seat at the head of the table and Ryu sat down next to him, placing the box he held beneath the table. Ryu silently contemplated on what life in this village would be like, while Sarutobi compiled a rushed agenda for the meeting.

Before long, three men walked into the room together. From their haggard looks and the mess of bandages on various parts of their bodies, it was easy to tell they had just been in the battle with the Kyuubi. The first man was lean and unshaven, and his hair was tied in a topknot. His eyes lazily looked at the two already in the room, "Nara Shikato, of the Nara clan." he drawled.

The second stepped up, he wore his long blonde hair in a ponytail that almost reached the floor, and he wore purple almost all over. His voice was much more terse than Shikato's. "Yamanaka Inoshi, of the Yamanaka clan."

The third was a large man with messy red hair that reached his shoulders. His were narrow and his puffy cheeks gave him a sense of amiability. "Akimichi Chomaru of the Akimichi clan." He said casually.

The three bowed at the Hokage, who bowed his head in return, with Ryu following suit. The three men sat down, Inoshi opposite of Ryu, with Chomaru next to him, and Shikato taking the seat next to the dragon-nin.

Inoshi broke the silence first, "So, I haven't seen you around the village before…" he questioned Ryu.

He stared back at the purple ninja in front of him, "I'm here seeking aid and refuge. Saindaime-sama suggested I come to this meeting to make it official."

Shikato kicked the box by his feet, "What's in the box?"

"Something that needs protecting."

A conversation was struck up between the four, each of the three leaf-nins introducing themselves and talking slightly about themselves. It seemed that each of them were either expecting a child, or already had one. As they talked, more and more clan heads entered the room, many of which seemed a bit too young to a clan head, but the mass-casualties had forced the sons and daughters of previous clan heads to take their positions prematurely. The last to enter were the heads of the Hyuuga and Uchiha clans.

When everyone had seated themselves, Sandaime spoke up, "Now that we are all assembled, I would like to introduce Hayabusa Ryu. He has come to the village to seek refuge and protection of a certain item."

Sandaime looked at Ryu and nodded, the dragon-nin stood up and cleared his throat. "As many of you know, when hidden villages are formed, they bring ninja clans into a tightly knit alliance, but some clans have refused to be a part of any village. It varies from clan to clan, but it usually has to do with the different ideals held by the two groups. My clan, the Hayabusa, was one such clan.

"Our village was peaceful, and our only duty was to guard the village's three treasures, the Dragon Eye, the Dragon Sword, and the Dark Dragon Blade."

Many of the younger members scoffed, believing such things to be simply bedtime stories to be told to their children. Ryu noticed this and pulled the sword on his back out of its sheath, placing it on the table, "The Dragon Sword." He reached into one of the pouches on his chest and revealed a string necklace with a brilliantly bright pink pearl on the end, "The Dragon Eye."

Ryu then reached under the table and brought up the box he'd been carrying. Carefully placing it on the table, he gently opened the lid, revealing a very ornamental looking, but very deadly black sword. Many of those present shivered visibly at the aura of killer intent given off by the sword. "The Dark Dragon Blade."

Ryu quickly closed the box once again, not wanting the blade to tempt anyone else with power. _I can't believe it still has so much killer intent. _He thought, _Even after it's had a month to dissolve, its aura is still this powerful._

The Hokage spoke up, "Disaster has visited the Hayabusa village just as it has visited ours, and Ryu is now the lone survivor of his clan." Ryu lowered his head a bit. It wasn't entirely true, his father, Jyou was still alive, for all he knew. But as of now, nobody could find him unless he wanted to be found. "As of now, the Dark Dragon is in need of protection from those who would try to wield it. We shall now vote on whether or not to accept Ryu into the village."

The Hokage and several veterans turned their eyes to Inoshi, who sat just to the right of Sandaime. Yamazaki looked slightly confused, "Forgive my ignorance, but shouldn't the Hokage vote first?"

An older man spoke up, "Because many people of this village hold the Hokage's opinion so highly, he votes last to keep his vote from influencing others."

Inoshi nodded, "Well, either way, I vote that we let him stay."

The vote was nearly unanimous around the table. The Hokage smiled as he lit his pipe, "It is agreed then, Hayabusa Ryu is now officially a ninja of the leaf. As per Konoha law, you will be put on a three month probationary period, and at the end of the probation you will eligible for missions." Ryu bowed and moved to sit down, "Also, I believe you should consider participating in the upcoming Jounin exam. It would be good to see how your abilities stack up to those of other ninjas."

_And to keep up the illusion that Konoha is as strong as ever. _ Ryu thought.

Several other necessary procedures followed, the tradition of swearing in new clan heads was frequent and quickly began to grate on many attendants' nerves. Through the Hokage kept a smile on his face for most of the meeting, his look became solemn as they came to last item on the agenda.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we've come to the last item on the agenda."

"Finally." Shikato muttered.

"As all of you know, the sealing process that has rid us of the Kyuubi, and claimed our leader's life, has also condemned an infant to its curse. Here and now, we must decide what to do about the boy and the seal."

The room, which had been lively with side conversations, suddenly became silent. Several of those present glanced awkwardly at each other, nobody wanted to say what they were all thinking. The Uchiha elder moved to say something when Ryu cut him off.

"I'll raise the boy."

Many looked at the village's newest addition in varying levels of shock. Although he could feel many glares boring into him, Ryu did not budge, but continued to speak through his facemask, "He has tremendous potential, and he can be a great shinobi if trained properly."

Hyuuga Hiashi, who had perhaps been glaring the hardest, spoke against him. "What of the Kyuubi? It is still possible that it could break the seal and escape. Would you put our children at risk because of potential?"

Ryu glared back into the white eyes of the Hyuuga. "_I_, at least, have faith in the Yondaime's seal."

Several elders bowed their heads, abashed at his words. Hiashi, however, did not ease up on the former dragon-nin at all. The two continued their staring contest until the Hokage interrupted them.

"Hayabusa, you shall have to come by my office tomorrow to sign the necessary papers. Is their anything else you would like to add?"

Ryu turned back towards the Hokage, "Yes, I believe that the fate of the Kyuubi and the seal should be kept as a secret. Anybody who knows should be sworn to secrecy, and nobody in this village, not especially not the younger generation should be aware of it."

One of the veteran elders looked slightly confused. "Any particular reason for this?"

_Aside from giving the boy a semblance of a normal life?_ "Yes, there are many who may try to recruit the boy when he is older, because of his potential. It's bad enough that he has to deal with the demon for the rest of his life, having him as an enemy could prove disastrous, especially if he is capable of accessing Kyuubi's chakra."

A majority of the elders agreed, and the rest grudgingly accepted that they were now outvoted.

The meeting was adjourned, and many elders simply teleported out of the room with a poof. Hiashi spared Ryu one last glare before leaving. Inoshi and Chomaru eyed him warily before heading for the door, but Shikato acted as though he didn't care. Ryu could tell though that he was far tenser now then when he first entered the room.

The Hokage called for a few Chuunins, and asked them to take the box containing the Dark Dragon Blade to the treasury, and lock it away safely.

Ryu and the Hokage were the last to leave, and as they did, Kakashi appeared in front of them with a poof. Still in his arms was the blonde child, who was now awake, and trying to pull down the young ninja's facemask down.

"Hokage-Sama, what was decided?" He absentmindedly batted Naruto's hand away from his face while the boy simply giggled.

The Hokage grinned, "Hayabusa has volunteered to be Naruto's guardian. He will also be living with me and my family until we can find him proper living quarters." Ryu raised an eyebrow at the last part. "Please escort him to the Hokage mansion."

Kakashi bowed his head, "Of course Hokage-Sama."

"And tell my daughter to not wait up for me and get some sleep." Sandaime added.

Kakashi turned around gestured for Ryu to follow. They left the Hokage tower and began walking the streets. Ryu made a point to ignore the murmurs of the few who were awake, and seemed fascinated with the black clad ninja. Although, he made sure to remember those who were glaring at Naruto, as they would need to be, 'lectured' later.

The silver haired Jounin broke the silence, "You must of known Kazama-sensei very well, if you're willing to take care of his son in such dire conditions."

Ryu nodded, "We only met face to face a few times, but we kept in touch through mail quite often. Usually he would send a scroll with one of his frog summons, and I would reply with one of my village's carrier birds."

"Funny that he never mentioned you." The younger ninja replied with only the slightest hint of skepticism.

"My village is, _was_ supposed to remain a heavily guarded secret. I was breaking several laws simply writing letters to him."

"How much did you know about him?"

"Quite a bit, he wrote often enough and in enough detail to tell me about individual missions, and that he was going to be a father."

Kakashi didn't reply, and the two continued walking in silence until they reached the Hokage mansion. Two Anbu were guarding the main gate, one was wearing a cat mask, and the other was wearing a bird mask. The cat mask confronted them as they approached.

"Kakashi, what are you doing here, and who are these two?"

The reply was nonchalant, "These two are going to be staying in the Hokage mansion for the time being, along with myself."

The bird anbu nodded silently and opened the gate. The cat anbu eyed the two of them before stepping aside. As the two walked past, Naruto decided to blow a raspberry at the cat anbu.

As they approached the door it suddenly flew open. Standing there was a woman in a kimono with dark brown hair that was neatly cut short.

"Ah, oh, Kakashi. What are you doing here?" She asked.

"Many housing developments were destroyed, Hayabusa-san and I," Kakashi motioned to himself and Ryu, "shall be staying here for the time being."

She nodded, "Well you are both very welcome to stay here." She stepped aside to let the two of them inside. "This way, I'll show you to the guest bedrooms."

They walked through the intricate halls, all adorned with various paintings and portraits. Many of the pictures were of past Hokages and their students. The woman turned towards the two, "Um… Kakashi, have you heard any news on my husband?"

Kakashi nodded, "He's in the hospital, but it's nothing serious. He'll probably be released tomorrow."

She nodded, "Thank you."

She stopped by two doors, and motioned to them, "Make yourself at home." She looked down at Naruto, "Oh, and I believe we have a crib in storage somewhere. I'll go get it."

Kakashi stepped to follow her, before Ryu stopped him by quickly pressing two fingers to his forehead-protector. "Get some sleep, you've worked enough for today."

Kakashi's eyes widened, and for a moment he forgot that his teacher wasn't dead. He handed the giggly child to Ryu, bowed once and walked into the room.

Ryu followed the woman for a while in relative silence. She seemed a little uncomfortable, until she broke the silence, "Um… If you don't mind me asking, what is your business in Konoha?"

"I'm seeking refuge, and I am on a probationary period until I officially become a ninja of the leaf." He said curtly, "I assume you are Sarutobi-sama's daughter?"

She smiled, "Yes, my name is Megumi. It's a pleasure to meet you Hayabusa-san."

Ryu shook his head slightly, "Just call me Ryu, there's no need to be formal with me."

"Oh… Okay Ryu-san."

The reached the storeroom soon after, and began looking for the crib. Dust seemed to float up from every object in the room. As Ryu was searching for the elusive crib, more and more dust began to collect on little Naruto's face, causing him to let out a series of tiny sneezes. After the sneezes came a few muffled sniffs and sobs. Ryu quickly realized what was coming, _Oh no._

The silence was split by Naruto's wailing. Ryu, unsure of what to do, did his best to comfort the infant, but he only seemed to be getting louder. Megumi ran over to the odd pair and plucked Naruto from Ryu's hands. She held him on her shoulder, softly cooing and calming him. Ryu merely stood there, watching, as Naruto grew quieter and quieter until he finally fell asleep again. He bowed his head slightly, and whispered "Arigatou Megumi-chan."

She gave him a sweet smile, "It's no problem, and I've dealt with my fair share of infants." She pasued for a moment, "Ryu… Is this your child?"

"No, he is the child of a friend of mine who recently passed away."

"Doesn't he have any other family?"

"I think so, but they are very distant relations, and I really don't know where the are. I decided to take him into my care as a favor to the memory of my friend."

Megumi nodded happily, "I think that's very sweet of you."

Ryu resumed the search while Megumi played with Naruto, who giggled happily at the attention. When he found the crib, he performed a small wind justsu to blow the dust off the old piece of furniture. The two of them made their way back to the guest bedrooms, and placed a now sleeping Naruto in the crib.

"Goodnight Ryu-san."

"Goodnight Megumi-chan."

Ryu closed the door, and pulled off his mask for the first time in days. His brown hair was messy and matted with dried sweat. He disrobed completely until he was wearing nothing but his undergarments, and flopped himself down on the cot. Just before he drifted of into sleep, he whispered a goodnight to the sleeping infant.

Ryu arrived in the Hokage's training grounds and found Kakashi lazily leaning on a tree. Ryu nodded at his surroundings, "Let's get started then."

The two disappeared in a blur of motion. Ryu was leaping from branch to branch, keeping up with Kakashi's pace. The younger nin made an enormous leap forward, executing several flips and twists, leaving the dragon-nin wondering why he had decided to show off. Ryu noticed the wires to late however, and was soon forced to dodge a barrage of kunai and shuriken, then to get as far away from the weapons as possible before their seals exploded.

Ryu landed on a branch adjacent to Kakashi, "Did you set those traps yourself?"

"No, they're just a part of the training grounds."

"You must have practiced with Arashi a lot here then."

"Hn." Kakashi gave a small nod before lunging to his opponent. They exchanged a few blows before leaping apart again. Kakashi's visible eye widened when he heard the soft hissing of an explosive note. When the note went off however, Ryu was forced to block a mixture of water and dust from reaching his eyes.

"Mizu-Bunshin. Makes me wonder how tough the real thing must be."

Sandaime arrived at his home, more tired than he had ever been. He wanted nothing more than to fall down on a bed and sleep for days.

But those explosions, they got his curiosity piqued. He worked his way into the area behind the mansion, and found his daughter watching the forested area while holding a bundle in her arms. He stepped up beside her, more loudly than he normally would, as to announce his presence.

"Good morning Father." She said without even looking at him.

"Good morning Megumi. Who's wrecking the area this time?"

"Ryu-san and Kakashi-san." **KA-THOOM** "They really seem to be getting into their fight."

The Hokage only nodded, and after a few more minutes she looked over towards him. "Father! You look terrible, you need to go and get some sleep right now!"

"Yes, yes. I just wanted to check on you."

With that the Hokage walked back inside and made his way to his room.

AN: Ryu is an official Leaf-Nin and Naruto's guardian. Next chapter is the Jounin exams, and at least one familiar face.


	3. New Beggining

Dragon's Treasure

Chapter 2

"Speech"

'Thoughts' 

_  
_(Scene Break)

Naruto chuckled happily as he leapt from roof to roof with an empty bucket of paint and a still wet brush in his hands. His greatest prank was finished, and it wouldn't be long until…

"THERE HE IS!"

That happened.

"Get the little bastard!"

Naruto dropped the can and brush and booked it out of there. Sure it was incriminating evidence, but since he had actually signed his name on the monument, it wasn't like he'd get in any more trouble than before.

'Time to lose these suckers.' He began to rummage through his pockets for… 

His…

'_Shit! Where'd I put it?'_ The advantage of having many pockets was you'd have lots of places to put things. Unfortunately, that also meant that someone like Naruto could easily misplace his belongings if he wasn't careful.

'_Mother F- If I lost it again…'_ His eyes widened as his foot landed on a loose tile of the roof he was currently on.

"WAH!"

Naruto scrambled to regain his balance, but was too late as he slid off the roof of the rather short building. But as he was falling, the object he was looking for fell out of one of his open pockets.

"My yo-yo! Sweet!"

He slipped his finger through the loop and through the toy. It wrapped around a chimney, and Naruto swung around a corner, planted his feet against a wall, and leapt into an alley, leaving several Chuunins stunned at his display.

"I saw it, but I don't believe it."

"Shut up Iori."

(Scene Break)

Naruto landed behind some boxes and created a bunshin. It looked like him from behind, but the nose was too big, and it only had two whisker marks on each cheek instead of three. But that wasn't really what mattered at this point.

"Just keep running okay? And try not to run into anybody."

The clone nodded and darted off. Naruto ducked behind some boxes, waiting for the Chuunins to blow by. He giggled to himself about the brilliance of his plan. He did, at least until a hand came down on his shoulder.

"You know," A voice came, "You don't really have to give orders to a clone, it should know what you're planning as you think it."

Naruto turned around and came face to face with Konoha's number one ninja. He was wearing a brown jacket with a fishnet shirt underneath, and his hair was cut to chin length, parted down the middle. He also had black pants and regular blue sandals.

Naruto's grin widened even more than before.

"Hi dad…"

(Scene Break)

Ryu tried his hardest not to smirk at the Chuunin's tirade. Some overzealous, recently promoted punk had launched into a rant about how Naruto was a menace to society, had no respect for authority, pretty much stuff that he already knew.

The Chuunin started panting, tired from his rant. Ryu inspected his fingernails in boredom, "Are you done yet? I've got more important things to do than listen to someone who I outrank try to lecture me on child raising."

Maybe Naruto had rubbed off on him, or maybe it was just the easygoing ways of the village, but Ryu found that he loved irking people. That was why it was even harder to repress his smile when he could actually hear the gnashing of teeth in front of him.

"Don't you even care?" The Chuunin was turning red in the face now. "He defaced the monument of our founders and greatest heroes! Aren't you going to punish him?"

"Well…," Ryu tapped a finger to his chin, as though in thought. "I guess we'll have to clean that up. You know, otherwise Sarutobi will be mad. But mostly I'm just impressed that my boy was able to evade patrols and fool a squad of Chuunins."

Naruto giggled to himself as the Chuunin began to sputter words. He decided to play along. "Oi pops, why don't we get to cleaning that up so I can plan my next prank already okay?"

Ryu smiled down at his son, "Sure thing kiddo."

Father and son sped off towards the mountain range and left the fuming ninja behind.

(Scene Break)

"What?" Naruto stared exasperatedly at his father, "What do you mean I have to clean it all by myself? I thought you were going to help me."

Ryu crossed his arms, closed his eyes and nodded sagely. "I did help you, I saved from a harsher punishment. Cleaning the mess you made is lenient compared to what they would have made you do had the other ninjas caught you first." He cracked an eyebrow, "Besides, didn't I teach you something the other day that could make this go a whole lot faster?"

Naruto just gave him a blank stare. Ryu's eye twitched, a nasty habit he'd developed since he moved to Konoha. Naruto saw this and scrambled to think of something that his dad had taught him that could make cleaning easier. "I… er… uh…"

He started to sweat when Ryu's eyes narrowed. Slowly his mouth opened, "Kage-"

"BUNSHIN! Yeah, yeah, I remember." Naruto finished his father's sentence, as though it was his own idea in the first place. "Don't worry pops, I'll have this done in no time, then you can teach me some more cool moves."

Ryu sighed as his son went to work. He absentmindedly wondered when he so easily referred to Naruto as that. _'It was probably when he got hurt that first time.'_

(Flashback)

Ryu had sprinted the entire way back to Konoha. He'd been on a high-ranked mission when he got the news from Kakashi by carrier pigeon. Like all messages between ninjas, it was curt.

**Naruto was attacked; he's with me now, but get back as fast as you can.**

He gripped the note tighter as he ran.

(Scene Break)

Ryu pushed the door to the Hokage's office open. Sarutobi was sitting at his desk, hands clasped, as though he were expecting Ryu's arrival, which he probably was. Kakashi was sitting in front of him, and was turned around in his seat, watching him. Ryu cocked an eyebrow the copy-nin.

"I left him with Gai." Ryu's eyebrow twitched. "He's been briefed, he knows the seriousness of the situation."

Sarutobi gestured towards an empty chair. "Ryu, please sit down, we have much to discuss."

The dragon-nin didn't budge from his spot, but only continued to glare at his superior. The Hokage sighed, but Kakashi stood up, and began speaking in a very strict voice, "Sir, as you requested, I checked upon Naruto when possible, to make sure that he was being cared for properly. When I arrived at your apartment, I witnessed a fight between the three Genins who were assigned to care for your son. It seemed that two of them were trying to harm Naruto, while the third was trying to protect him. I immediately entered, retrieved Naruto, and incapacitated the two assailants to the best of my ability."

Ryu spoke for the first time since he entered the room. "Where was their Jounin sensei?"

Kakashi kept his straight posture, "We later found him at a restaurant sir." Ryu gritted his teeth, at the response, but Kakashi continued his report, undeterred, "After incapacitating the two Genin, I sent the third immediately to the hospital for treatment of wounds he had received in the struggle, then informed Hokage-sama of what had happened. At this point Hokage-sama took charge of your son and sent Gai and myself to retrieve the assailants and then to locate their Jounin-sensei. After we had brought all three into custody, I sent you the message."

Ryu nodded, and relaxed his body a bit, which caused Kakashi to relax as well. "And Naruto? How is he?"

"Well, that's the strange part." He scratched the back of his head a bit. "All three Genins said that he'd been stabbed twice by kunai, once in the left shoulder, and another time in his right thigh. By the time we had a medic-nin inspect, him, the wounds had completely closed, leaving no scars, and showed almost no signs of blood loss."

Sarutobi spoke up. "We believe this to be a side-effect of the Kyuubi."

Ryu closed his eyes, "The attackers and their sensei, where are they now?"

Sarutobi stood up. "Ryu, don't do anything foolish-"

"Where are they?" Ryu did his best to come off calmly.

The aged ninja sighed, "I'll allow you to come with me when I speak with them. We haven't decided on punishment yet, because they are still being interrogated."

Ryu opened his eyes. "Very well."

(Scene Break)

Ryu stood behind Sarutobi as he spoke with the head interrogator.

"I'll have the report by tomorrow morning Hokage-Sama."

"Good, all three of them are in there then?" Sarutobi motioned towards a single metal door.

"Yes sir."

"Good." He nodded to Ryu and both of them stepped into the interrogation room, barren, with nothing but a few wooden chairs, a steel table, a two-way mirror on the wall, and a single light bulb. The Jounin was leaning against a wall, but straightened up when the Hokage entered the room. The two Genin followed their sensei's example from their seats.

Sarutobi addressed the two Genin, "Kougashira Hideki, and Akechi Haruko."

Their Jounin sensei stepped forward, "Hokage-sama, before you say anything else, I just want to remind you that these are good kids. They've been model students all through their academy days, and I believe that they have the potential to pass the next Chuunin Exams. In this time of need, don't you think that we need all the capable ninjas we can get?"

Ryu clenched his teeth as the Jounin finished his spiel, He could count the number of times he'd been this angry on one hand, and they'd all happened within the last year. It'd been a pretty shitty year for the Hayabusa clan overall really.

Sarutobi spoke again, as calmly as before. "I understand your point Tarou, but it is more important now that we uphold our villages laws rather than try to hold onto ninjas. As such, ninjas are held to a higher standard than the rest of the villagers. That is why Hideki and Haruko are suspended as ninjas." Gasps were audible from both of the Genin, as well as from Tarou. Sarutobi simply held out his palm. "You forehead protectors."

Hideki and Haruko each shakily reached to untie their forehead protectors, when Tarou slammed his palm down onto the table. "Hokage-sama! You can't do this. You're destroying their futures! Being a ninja is all they have, what do you expect them to do now!"

Ryu stepped in front of Sarutobi, "They attempted to _murder_ my _son_. This punishment is lenient compared to what they deserve."

Tarou glared at Ryu, "Don't pretend to care for that…"

Ryu's eyes narrowed, "That, what?"

Sarutobi placed a hand on Ryu's shoulder, "That's enough, both of you. This punishment is final."

Ryu stepped back, then turned around and walked towards the door. He could hear Sarutobi giving his final punishment. "As for you Tarou, for reckless endangerment, you are on probation until further notice."

By the time Tarou sounded his protest, Ryu was already gone.

(End Flashback)

"Dad. Dad. Dad. Daaaaaaad. Daddaddaddaddaddaddaddaddaddad!"

"WHAT!" Ryu snapped out of his reverie to Naruto's attempts to get his attention.

"I'm almost finished, can I take a break now?" His son looked at him with pleading eyes. Ryu looked at him quizzically, then up at the monument. His eyes narrowed upon seeing that the face of the Fourth was completely untouched. He then looked back down at his son, who was smiling broadly at him.

"No."

Naruto blanched at the words. He quickly got right into his father's face, and screamed "Why not?"

Ryu kept a calm look on his face as he addressed his son, "Because, you deliberately decided not clean the Fourth's face on the monument. Using the Kage-Bunshin, you should have been done with the whole thing by now."

Naruto pouted his lips and looked away, "Well… uh… I'm out of chakra, so I need to take a break before I can use Kage-Bunshin again."

"Then clean it up without Kage-Bunshin." Ryu tossed a rag at Naruto, who caught it in mid-air, and began to half-heartedly clean his graffiti from the monument.

He continued in silence for about fifteen minutes before his father spoke up. "Why do you hate the Fourth?"

Naruto gripped the rag a little tighter, "Why shouldn't I? Considering what he did to me and all."

"You know that you should be honored. The Fourth chose you to carry a heavy burden, one that only you can carry now."

Naruto tried not to get angry, since they'd had this conversation before. Usually he would get angry and storm off when his father went into a speech like this, but now he couldn't run. "Would you have let him seal it inside of _you_?"

Ryu's face didn't change, "Had he asked, yes. But he would never have asked me."

Naruto scowled, "Why not?"

"Because he chose you. He wanted you to be looked upon as a hero, but obviously it didn't turn out that way. He also chose you to take the Kyuubi's powers. It's chakra, its ability to heal, these are gifts from the Fourth to you."

Naruto began to stare at his feet, "But why me? Even with the chakra and the healing, everybody hates me for it."

"That…" For the first time since their conversation started Ryu seemed to be at a loss for words. "That's something for another time."

Naruto didn't seem quite satisfied with that answer, by now he had stopped scrubbing the monument, and was just staring at his father. Finally he asked again, "Why me?"

Ryu caught his son's gaze, "Tomorrow, after you've graduated."

(Scene Break)

AN: Yes, I did promise you several months ago that the next chapter would be of the Jounin exams. But for several months I sat in front of my computer screen at a complete loss of how to write what I wanted to convey. However, this chapter seemed to flow a lot more naturally for me, perhaps it's because it had Naruto in it.

All that you really need to know about the exams is that it is how Ryu met Gai. I may still write the exams, but if I do, it will be in a side-story.

Naruto's yo-yo, as well as several other aspects of how Ryu's care changed his life, will be explained through flashbacks later on in the story.

Read, Review, Repeat.


	4. Genin Graduation

Dragon's Treasure

Chapter 3

"Speech"

'Thoughts' 

(Flashback)

"C'mon pops. Please?"

"How many times do I have to say it? Not until you're ready."

Naruto pouted, trying to put on his best puppy dog eyes for his father. Ryu raised an eyebrow at him. "You know that doesn't work on me." Naruto's puppy dog eyes turned into a glare.

"Why won't you teach me?"

Ryu sighed, "What will make you believe that you're not ready yet? If I tried to teach you how to use a sword, you'd just wind up hurting someone, or yourself."

"No I won't, I promise! Please? If you teach me, then I promise that I'll never ask you for anything again okay?"

Ryu's eye twitched, "You know that's not true. Besides, why do you want to use a sword so bad?"

"All the other kids in the academy have been getting kunai and shuriken and stuff from their parents, and I don't have anything. It's really lame."

Ryu rubbed his chin in thought, "Well, ehh…" Then he snapped his fingers. "You're teacher is going on a mission in a few days right?" Naruto nodded dumbly. "Okay, I think I have an idea."

(Scene Break)

Ryu looked at the faces of the smiling students, as well as a few bewildered faces. Most bewildered of which was his son. He smiled warmly and began. "Good morning students. My name is Hayabusa Ryu. I'll be your substitute teacher for the next week."

"Good morning Hayabusa-sensei." Came the rather enthusiastic reply.

"Before we begin our lesson plan, I would like to give you a pop-quiz." Several groans came from the students. "Calm down, this will not be for a grade. This is only so that I can get to know your abilities."

Ryu lead the class out to the training area in the back of the school. There were several pieces of training equipment for older students, as well as toys and play-sets for younger children. In the center of it all was a large sparring circle.

Once Ryu had gotten their attention again, he began speaking. "All right, the way the quiz is going to work is like this. I'll call each of you into the ring one at a time, and then I want you to come at me with everything you've got. Just remember, the fights are over when I say they're over. Understood."

"Yes Hayabusa-sensei." Came the chorus from the children.

'_Damn Iruka, you've really got these kids trained.'_ Ryu thought.

"All right," Ryu pulled a note card from his jacket pocket, "Aburame Shino?"

A boy wearing sunglasses and a somewhat too large coat stepped forward. He and Ryu walked towards opposite ends of the ring and bowed to each other. Ryu looked at his note card again, "Hyuuga Hinata?"

A pale girl stepped forward; she was playing with her fingers and looking down at the ground. "Y-yes?"

Ryu gave her a reassuring smile, "Would you start us off please?"

"All right." She raised her hand in the air, and then chopped it downwards, "Hajime!"

Shino faked, as though he were going to rush, but stopped. He fell into a defensive position. Ryu chuckled, "I'm sorry for not clarifying, but you've got to attack me."

"Mm." Shino nodded, then leapt towards Ryu, fist first. Ryu sidestepped the attack, and Shino landed on the ground, but followed quickly with a leg sweep, which the older ninja hopped over. Shino tried a round house and a hook, but both were dodged. Finally he somersaulted forward, and tried to smash his heel into the substitute's chin. Ryu leapt backwards and reached into a pouch on his belt, while smirking.

Naruto looked on puzzled, _'What's dad grabbing for?'_

As soon as Ryu landed, his hand shot out, and the on looking students watched in disbelief as a yo-yo went buzzing towards Shino. Having only recovered from his last move, the toy smacked him right in the forehead, causing him to lurch back. The yo-yo snapped back into Ryu's waiting hand, and he sent it out again, this time snaring the bug users ankle, and with a quick tug, knocked him off his feet.

Ryu pulled Shino along the dirt by the string until they were face to face. Ryu smiled at him and flicked something off his jacket. "Fight's over. Nice move there with the bugs though."

Naruto's mouth had not yet closed after watching his father beat his classmate in a fight by using a _yo-yo._ In fact, there weren't many children in the crowd who hadn't dropped their jaws. One student had the sense to whisper to another, "What's he talking about with the bugs?"

Ryu answered for them. "Shino was trying to put Kikai bugs on me rather than hit me."

Several students realized what he was talking about, and began whispering the answer to their questioning friends. Shino stood up, and brushed himself off. Then shoved his hands in his pockets and rejoined the crowd.

"Next… Akimichi Chouji?"

(End Flashback)

Naruto snapped out of his reverie when Chouji was called to take his final. The large boy stood up from his seat next to him and walked towards Iruka's office, still clutching the bag of chips. Naruto absentmindedly wished him luck and Shikamaru, who was laying face down on his desk one row in front of them, raised a hand as he walked by. To the boys, it was well known as the lazy boy's way of offering encouragement.

Naruto started thinking again about how that day had gone. His dad had gone through pretty much the same process with all the students, and he always beat them with some kind of a toy. At one point he even used an action figure by controlling it with chakra strings. That was when Naruto had started using a yo-yo to fool around with. Usually he would just perform different tricks, and sometimes showed off to his classmates.

But what they usually didn't see was the way he practiced it as a shinobi tool. They way he had figured it, if someone could use things like puppets, or an oar as a weapon, then why couldn't he do it with a yo-yo?

A few minutes passed and Chouji emerged from Iruka's office with a brand new forehead-protector. He sat down next to Naruto again, and then pulled another bag of potato chips from under his desk.

Naruto sighed as he laid his head down on his desk. He couldn't stand it. The exams had only started and he was already getting restless. Not only that, but he was at the end of the list. The only person who came after him was Ino.

Iruka stepped out of his office again, and Naruto perked up. "Baju?"

Naruto's face fell back onto the desk and he let out an even louder sigh. "This is taking for-ev-er!"

(Scene Break)

The door opened again, and Sasuke stepped out sporting a brand new hitai-ate. Naruto perked up, he knew that he was next after the Uchiha. Sure enough, Iruka followed him out, and read, "Uzumaki Naruto?"

Naruto immediately jumped out of his seat and leapt from desk to desk all the way down to the floor. Other students yelled at him but he paid them no mind, simply standing straight, grinning broadly in front of his teacher. Iruka sighed at his student's antics, but motioned him into the office.

Inside was a large wooden desk, with the other teacher, Mizuki behind it. Iruka sat down next to the other teacher, with a stack of papers and the last two hitai-ates beside him. "Stand in front of the desk Naruto." He did so, "Okay, first, we need to test your ability with shuriken."

Naruto nodded and pulled five out of one of his pockets. Mizuki continued the explanation, "We've put genjutsu on five targets in this room, when we remove them, you'll have 3 seconds to hit all of them."

Naruto looked around the room, and saw that the wall behind him had many pockmarks in it. _'That must be where the targets will appear.'_

"GO!"

As he had guessed, the targets materialized on the back wall. "One!" **Thunk** "Two!" **Thok** "Three! Four!" **Th-Thunk**

Naruto's mouth dropped. _'Four! Only four?'_ He looked around the room as quickly as possible, when he noticed another target on the ceiling. He threw his last shuriken at it quickly, but when his foot slid along the floor from his panic, he could hear that he stepped on a different material. He looked down towards his foot and saw one last target. He pulled a kunai from the holster on his leg, and stabbed downwards, right into the bull's-eye.

"TIME!"

Naruto looked up towards the desk and saw both of his teachers with smiles on their faces. Iruka spoke first. "Very good Naruto-kun. You're the second one to hit all six targets."

Naruto stood straight with a broad grin. "Yeah! I'm the best around!" Then realization hit him. "Wait, who was the other one?"

Mizuki answered. "Sasuke was. Shino came close, but he missed the target on the ceiling."

Naruto smirked, "Yeah, well I'm still better than Sasuke."

Iruka chuckled, "All right Naruto, now for the last part of the test. We have to test you on your weakest skill, so this will be a genjutsu test."

Naruto's grin got really wide. "No problem! I can handle anything you can throw at me!" _'Crap, I hope it's nothing to advanced.'_

Mizuki spoke up, "Nothing too advanced," (_'SCORE!'_) "Just two clones will let you pass."

Naruto breathed out, "Okay, just two clones. **Bunshin no Jutsu!**"

With a poof, two clones appeared next to their creator. Mizuki and Iruka looked them over. Iruka spoke first. "Hmm… It seems like the nose is a bit big on this one."

Mizuki had worked his way behind the clones. "Yes, but they look exactly the same from behind."

Naruto remained as still as possible, hoping to god that his clones would pass the test. Iruka spoke again. "Still, they wouldn't work all the time."

"Well, I guess that's just something he'll have to work on later right?"

"Yeah, it's passable I guess." Naruto's mouth dropped as Iruka tossed him a headband. "Congratulations Naruto. You've passed."

Naruto just stood there for a moment, and then started laughing, "Ha-ha. Of course I passed, you wouldn't expect a genius like me to fail would you?"

Iruka laughed as well, "Just get back to your seat for now okay?"

(Scene Break)

"Welcome home Naruto." Ryu stood in front of the door to their apartment. He poked his son on the forehead. "I see that you got your hitai-ate."

"Yeah-yeah!" Naruto nearly bouncing off the walls with energy. "There was this part of the test, where I had to hit five targets with shuriken right? So they keep the targets hidden with genjutsu, and then they take it off, and give me three seconds to hit five targets. So before the test starts, I notice that this one wall has a whole lot of holes in it from shuriken right? So when they release the illusion, I'm like, 'FWAH-CHA!' and I hit four targets at once. But they tried to trick me see, they put two more targets on the floor and ceiling. So then I'm like, "KI-YAH!' and hit those two targets. I'm the only guy who could do it!"

At this point he received a good thwack on the head, Ryu's eyes were closed in annoyance. "You know you shouldn't tell lies Naruto."

Naruto was on his knees, gripping the back of his head, "Ouch-ouch-ouch. Dammit, alright dad." He stood straight again, "They said that only me and Sasuke were the ones who hit all six targets."

Ryu beamed down at his son. "That's my boy!"

Naruto's eyes widened as he remembered something, "Oh yeah, why weren't you there after school. Lots of other guys' parents showed up."

Ryu just smiled down at him. "I just had some business to take care of."

"What kind of business?"

"Just some stuff. Oh, by the way, I have to spend tomorrow taking care of stuff, so I guess you have the day to yourself okay?"

Naruto looked down at the floor, clearly disappointed. "Yeah, okay then."

The two ate their dinner (ramen of course) in relative silence. Ryu had finished before Naruto, only eating one bowl rather than five. So he waited patiently for his son to scarf down noodles until he was stuffed, just like he always did. Once he was finished, Ryu looked at him intently. "Naruto?"

The blonde stopped patting his belly and looked at his father, "Huh?"

"About what I said yesterday… I told you that I'd tell you the reason why the Fourth chose you to be the Kyuubi's vessel." Naruto's face became very solemn. "It's because, he was your real father."

Naruto nearly fell out of his seat, "WHAT? What the hell are you talking about?"

"You know that I wasn't born in this village, but the truth is that I came just after the Kyuubi attack. I was brought into the village the day after it was sealed inside you. That's when I adopted you."

Naruto started shaking in his chair, trying to rationalize what he was hearing. "But, you told me about my mom, you said that she was headstrong like me. Since she died in childbirth, how could you have known that stuff if you came the day after?"

Ryu shook his head, "I only repeated to you what the Fourth told me in his letters. You see, the Fourth was my best friend. He had been ever since we both participated in Chuunin Exams together. When I learned what happened to him, and you, I knew that I had to do something, make sure that you were kept safe, and raised the way he would have wanted you to be."

Naruto started to get tears in his eyes. "Is that the only reason? You've only been taking care of me because of some sense of duty?"

Ryu looked shocked, "What? Naruto- No, that's not it –"

That's when Naruto took off, he didn't know why, he just needed to get away. He could hear his fa- Ryu scrambling after him.

(Scene Break)

Naruto stood in front of the familiar door. He knocked twice, slowly.

The door opened, revealing his teacher, Iruka, wearing a t-shirt and some sweat pants. He rubbed his eyes sleepily, "Huh? Naruto?"

Iruka took him into the apartment, sat him down in a chair, and made him say everything. Once he was finished, Iruka was silent for a little while. "So he told you huh?" Iruka looked deep in thought for a moment, trying to think of a way to ease the boy's confusion. "Naruto, do know about how Ryu and I first met?"

Naruto shook his head, but remained silent. Iruka continued on. "Well, it was just a few months after his probationary period before he was accepted as a ninja." Iruka looked at Naruto and spotted a confused look, "If you immigrate into the village, there is a three month period before you can accept missions." He seemed to get that explanation well enough. "Well, it was soon after that period. He had just gotten moved into his new apartment, and he'd hired a Genin team to watch over you while he was out. My team.

"The first few days went alright I guess; my teammates sort of made me do all the work though, it was pretty typical for Genin teams to get simple missions like this. On the fifth day, my teammates sent me out for some food, while they stayed and watched you. When I got back, I could hear you crying even before I opened the door. When I got inside they were… attacking you."

Naruto was surprised, to say the least. "I was attacked? By your team?"

Iruka nodded sadly. "When I saw that, something inside me snapped. I attacked my teammates, but I was never the best on my team, so they were beating me pretty badly. That was when Kakashi showed up, and saved you and me. He took you to the Hokage, and I was sent to the hospital."

Naruto thought for a moment. "So what does this have to do with my dad?"

Iruka smiled at his favorite student. "I think I should tell you about what happened at the hospital."

(Flashback)

Iruka sat in the hospital bed, looking at his face in a mirror. He scowled at the bandages that wrapped over his nose. "Oh man. The doctor said it's going to leave a scar."

He turned when he heard the door open. He recognized his visitor immediately. "H-Hayabusa-sama! What are you doing here?"

Ryu was wearing his black ninja suit, sans mask. He looked very somber as he sat down, "Iruka, I understand that you saved my son."

Iruka blushed at the statement, "Well, it was really Kakashi-sempai who saved me and Naruto from my team. I'm not really that good you see."

Ryu remained silent, causing Iruka to become slightly nervous. "Can you tell me why you did it? I heard that both of your parents were killed by the Kyuubi."

"Why?" Iruka had been thinking hard about that before Ryu even came in, "I don't really have an answer for that. Seeing them harming Naruto, something inside me just snapped. I didn't see him as the Kyuubi's vessel, but just as a kid who needed my help."

Ryu's expression didn't change, "I see." The room was silent for a few minutes after that. "Iruka." Ryu stood up from the chair, but then got down on his knees and bowed, that his head was almost touching the ground.

Iruka looked shocked at the display, "Hayabusa-sama…"

"Umino Iruka, I owe you my life."

Iruka barely managed to sputter out a response, "Wh-What are you talking about Hayabusa-sama?"

Ryu lifted his head, but continued to kneel. "Ever since I came to this village, all that I've had to live for is raising my son. Without him, I would have nothing."

"Hayabusa-sama…"

Ryu stood up this time. "If there's anything I can do for you, just name it."

Iruka was stunned silent. He thought for a minute, then realization hit him, "Help me pass the Chuunin exams."

Ryu smiled for the first time since he entered the room. "All right then, I'll train you until you pass the exams."

(End Flashback)

Naruto looked to be in deep thought over the story. Iruka hoped that it would be enough to get him over the shock of finding out he was adopted. "Naruto-kun?"

Naruto stood up, "I think I should go home."

Iruka smiled, "Say hi to your dad for me."

(Scene Break)

AN: Well, minor crisis resolved.

About the yo-yo: It's a placeholder, Naruto's weapon until Ryu starts teaching him how to use others. If I were to describe how he would use it in a fight, I'd have to compare it to the way that Kratos from God of War fights with his swords. If you haven't played or seen the game, Kratos uses two swords that are on the ends of long chains, the opposite ends of which are attached to his arms. He attacks by swinging them out, and retracting them, it's really quite cool.

Ryu's lesson with the yo-yo at the beginning had an "Underneath the underneath" kind of message to it, which is also the reason why he has encouraged Naruto's use of a yo-yo in combat. Because it's an unconventional weapon, fighting with it would require a lot of improvisation, important qualities to Naruto and any ninja.

Also, that was not the last time that Ryu substituted for Naruto's class, so he knows the students pretty well. Ryu has a lot of time on his hands, and that will be explained in more detail later.

The shuriken test: Since the Chuunin Exams were essentially three separate tests, I figured that Genin Exams would be a similar three-test format. The first was the most basic, shuriken throwing as well as quick thinking. The second is the weakest skill test, and the last would be the Jounin instructor's teamwork test.

Read, Review, Repeat.


End file.
